Winston Academy of Music
by how to catch a moonbeam
Summary: Claire Lyons is starting at a new school - The talented cellist submitted to Winston Academy, a boarding school in New York state . Are there cute guys? Yes Great food? Yeah! Drama? Well, of course
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! This is a SYOC story where Claire starts a new life at a prestigious music school in New York state. Here's the form. Just remember, I will use yours no matter what. Unless, of course, it's a troll character. Only two will be Claire's roommates. Okay?**

Name:

Nickname (optional):

Appearance:

Instrument (no guitar, electric anything, ukulele, banjo, or other bizarre thing):

Personality:

Brief history:

Favorite color:

Favorite food/snack:

Perfume, if any:

Phone and case:

Average grade in school:

Hobbies:

Celebrity look-alike:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Three words to describe your character:

**There it is! So, if you want to guarantee that I see your character, send her in by PM. Yes, reviews are accepted, but I may not see it right away. Have fun ****:)**


	2. Check-in

**Okay people, don't be mad. I may or may not have rearranged stuff so Claire doesn't really have a roommate officially. The selected girls are in the room next door. Okay? **

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

**Chapter One**

**Check-In**

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_Winston Academy is ah-mazing_, I thought as the car pulled into the parking lot. I could see many buildings past the check-in booth thingie. There was a tall, square building, at least four floors, with windows on all sides. Next door was a building slmost identical, but with a glass wall revealing tables. Probably the cafeteria.

Across the street was a building only one story tall, or maybe two. It had no windows, not counting the skylight. Next to it was a building identical to the first.

At the end of the road was a building similar to the others in the fact that it was square and white. It had tiles in varying shades of blue and green around all the doors and windows. I caught a glimpse of blue. The pool, I'm guessing. The last building was smaller and had one huge window with a mural of a book surrounding it. Inside were lots of books and couches. The library.

"Here we are, Claire!" Mom said excitedly. "Let's check in at the dorm building. Dad and Todd will get your things."

"No!" I shrieked at the sight of Todd lifting my precious sunshine yellow cello case. It was hard plastic with a sticker saying "Mello Cello" on it, but it was extremely breakable. Trust me. "I can carry the cello."

I took the case from Todd and unfolded the backpack-like straps. Carrying the instrument on my back, I followed Mom towards the first building, unsure of what was ahead.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

"Hi! I'm Abby, the assistant for the first time campers. And you are?" A skinny blonde sat in front of me with a megawatt smile.

"Claire Lyons," I answered smoothly. Abby shuffled through some papers while muttering to herself.

"Ah, here we go!" She pulled out a sheet of paper and a brochure, then handed them to me. "That's your map and student directory. Here is your room key," she slid a bronze-colored key across the table, "and your meal card." A blue plastic card followed close behind.

"Keep these with you at all times," she instructed. "It's a $20 fee for losing the meal card and $50 for a lost key. You can get a lanyard to keep them on. Blue or white?"

"Um, white," I responded.

"Great! Here you go! You're room 233. Go straight through that door. You can't miss it." Abby smiled, handed over my lanyard, and moved on to the next girl.

"Okay Claire," Mom said, "let's go find your dorm room." We walked down a hall painted a light yellowish tan with matted gray carpet. "Here we go! You open it," Mom instructed.

I turned the knob and slowly pushed the door open. It glided noiselessly inwards until… _thunk. _It stopped against something.

"Crap!" a girl muttered. "I'm sorry. Hold on a second here…" I could hear something being dragged across the carpet. "That should be good."

I pushed the door open the rest of the way. A girl in a coral-colored shirt and dark wash jeans was facing away from me and unpacking on her bed. Her hair was dark brown and kind of curly. More like wavy, I guess. There were sheets and pillows piled on the floor by her bed. The door of the mini fridge was open, revealing Dr. Pepper and a few cupcakes.

"I'm T," the girl said, turning around. She had a wide smile, which was good. There was a ring through her nose and three in her right ear. Her left ear had a cartilage piercing, four earlobe piercings, and a ring in the other side of the cartilage.

"Claire," I responded.

"Cool. Help me with unpacking?" T asked.

"Sure, but you need to help me too," I warned.

"No problem," she laughed.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

After about a half hour of unpacking and organizing, I had to say goodbye. It would be hard, not having Mom and Dad – and even Todd – around to talk to. But at boarding school, I really could make new friends. Plus, I could work on my music.

"Bye Mom," I whispered, hugging her tightly through her light pink sweater. "I'll miss you."

"You too, sweetie," she whispered back.

"Bye Dad," I sniffled, repeating the hug.

"Wait a minute," he said. "We have something for you!"

He pulls a phone out of his back pocket. It can't be my phone, can it?

"Call every weekend," Mom instructed jokingly. "Our numbers are programmed in already."

_No. Way! _My own iPhone!

"Bye Claire," Todd mumbled. "See ya in two months."

As they left, Mom slipped something onto my bed. Once the door closed, I sprang on the object and held it up. It was a pale blue case with a glittery gold heart! So cute!

"Come on, miss brand-new phone. Let's get those sheets onto our bed!" T said.

Laughing, I snapped the case onto my phone and put it in the pocket of my boot-cut jeans. I was so ready for boarding school!

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

T and I were walking with the other students towards the cafeteria. She was laughing and talking about something.

"Wait until you meet my friends! They are so awesome, oh my gosh. We all met last year, so that's okay. Including you, that makes eleven of us. You remember Primrose and Gracie, right?"

I nodded. Prim and Gracie were in the room next door. Prim was a little taller than me. She had twin curly brown pigtails that fell almost to her shoulders and a sprinkling of freckles beneath her dark brown eyes. I soon learned she has synesthesia. So basically, she sees the color lavender whenever she plays or hears piano music.

Gracie was tall for an eighth grader. She was about 5' 6" in her lime green converse. She also wore a lime green Aeropostale shirt over a light wash jean skirt. Gracie's nice, but got a little snappy when I knocked over her plate of sushi. She was a little scary too, with her blue eyes suddenly turning icy cold under a swoop of her highlighted brown hair. Either way, she got over it, and we were quick friends.

"Okay, well, they should be at that table by the window. See? Gracie's already there," T pointed out. I scanned the room for her ultra-bright shirt and found her by the window, waving madly to a girl outside.

"Yeah, I see her," I said. "Come on, I'm starving." We hurried through the line, with T grabbing a hamburger, fries, a Diet Coke, and a brownie, and me with the same, except I had cake and a Sprite.

"Hurry up!" I said. "I wanna meet everybody!"

"Okay, but I'm warning you, they can get a little crazy," T laughed. Her nose ring glinted in the sunlight.

We headed towards the table that was now filled except for three empty seats. At the end of the table was a pile of instrument cases. I counted four that looked about the size of a lunch box and one that held a violin or viola. I'm guessing it was a viola, Gracie's instrument of choice. Prim played piano, so it was probably not in the case pile.

T sat down in the chair at the end of the table, across from another chair holding a cello case. I plopped down in the chair next to T and began to dig in to my burger. The girl across from me slid a bottle of ketchup towards me.

"Thanks!" I said. I then squirted it onto my plate.

"No problem," she responded evenly. "I'm Danielle St. James."

Her glossy brown hair flowed over her shoulders. A tiny braid ran through it and was secured with a teal bow. She wore a sweater with varying shades of blue and white on top of white jeans. Her outfit was finished with white ballet flats and pink lip gloss.

"And I'm Veronica White," the girl sitting next to her cut in. "But you can call me Ronnie."

Ronnie had curly light brown hair secured in a tight bun. She wore dark wash jeans and an orange shirt with a hamster on it, along with black Doc Martens. She was tapping away on her iPhone in a black otterbox case.

"I'm Naomi Grassfield," the girl on my other side said. "Don't laugh at my name, it's mean."

Naomi had long brown hair with ombre tips trailing in her pizza. Her piercing blue eyes were framed with thick black frames and were fixed on her off-white shirt proclaiming, "Boys stink – literally" and tiffany blue leggings.

"Sierra Bentley," another girl said. She was sitting at one of the two seats at the end of the table. Sierra's wavy blonde tresses were illuminated by the sunlight, which also caused her sea green eyes to squint. A gold necklace dropped down into her ruffly light pink tank top, which she had paired with a white skirt and white sandals. Her toes were painted pink with gold sparkles.

"I'm Melissa Brent, the artistic one," said the girl next to Sierra. She had long hair in a shade almost like honey. It was pulled back with a light blue headband that appeared to be made out of recycled jeans. Silver and blue heart earrings glinted in her ears, matching the blue liner around her green eyes. She wore a light gray shirt and jeans.

"And I'm Riley Kramer, the normal one," a girl at the very end said. She had high cheekbones and reddish-brown hair that fell around her warm brown eyes. She had a light pink scarf that tumbled over her white sweater and halted right above her olive green cargo pants. She looked skinny, like bad skinny.

"I'm Lela Fisher, the other normal one," the girl beside her said. She had long auburn hair that dropped straight down to her ribs and bangs that just dusted the eyelashes over her silvery blue eyes. She wore a navy blue dress over white leggings and anchored with a hot pink belt.

"I'm Claire Lyons," I responded. We all chatted for a bit, then left in a fit of laughter for that night's activity.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

**So? Thoughts on the story? Did I get your OC right? Are you mad at me for not having Claire have roommates anymore? Tell me in a review :)**


	3. Not Such a Band Geek

**Chapter 2**

**Not such a band geek**

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"Last year we watched Oz the Great and Powerful. This year, I want to watch Mary Poppins. It's the best movie ever!" Melissa explained.

"Ugh, please no," Prim complained. "The colors give me a headache. Too bright."

Prim and Ronnie started a whole conversation about what colors were good and which were ugly, when suddenly Gracie made a barfing noise.

"What?" I asked, slightly disturbed.

"It's _them_," she sneered. "The horrible five."

I glanced in the direction she was glaring. All I saw were five girls talking and laughing together.

"Who? Those girls?" I asked.

"Nobody likes them," Sierra explained. "Last year they picked on this girl Annie nonstop. I heard they ruined the strings on her violin and completely whacked up her bow. Either way, she quit. I think she made our other friend Ashly quit too."

"In short, they're jerks," Melissa groaned. "Except for Katie. She's okay."

I glanced at the girls. One was a tall girl with a voluminous mane of curly black hair and smooth tan skin. The girl laughing at her every word was pale with a sheet of glossy blonde hair. She had a lookalike next to her, except this girl was skinnier and had shorter hair. A short girl with a few curves and glossy black hair in a messy bun was tapping away on her phone, next to a girl with wavy brown hair tumbling down to her waist.

"Which one's Katie?" I asked.

"Who knows and who cares," Ronnie answered. "They all act like they're on their periods. Rude one second, bawling the next, then rude again."

"Ronnie!" Lela, her roommate, reached out and smacked her arm. "Don't say _that word_!"

"Um, the one with the black hair is Kyla. She's ringleader of the five," Riley shared. "I think El Fatty is Sasha, little miss giggles is Julia, and her clone is Wen. But Katie is definitely the brunette."

"Thanks," I responded. When they weren't looking, I waved at Katie – or at least the girl I thought was Katie. She looked confused, but waved back anyway.

Gracie noticed and glared at me before turning away.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

"Hi," Katie said. I was already in my seat for the movie, sitting behind most of the girls in my group and with an empty seat on both sides of me. "Can we sit by you?"

"Sure," I responded. "I'm Claire."

"I'm Katie."

"Yeah, okay. Now scoot," Kyla commanded. Katie sat down in the seat on my right and the others followed behind her, with Kyla at the very end.

A tall girl with dark skin and a sharply cut bob hurried into the room. She spotted the girls in front of me and squealed.

"T! Gracie! Everybody! Hi!" The mystery girl waved furiously and ran over, her long legs covering the distance faster than my stubby ones.

"Ashly! Oh my god, where were you?" Gracie squealed back.

"I was unpacking and had to hurry to dinner. But I'm here now!" Ashly yelled. Prim soundlessly moved to the seat next to me. Ashly hurriedly took her spot by Gracie.

"Ugh, what a _band geek,_" Kyla scoffed. "Her instrument has more rust on it than the trailers at school. And those things are more red than white, you know?"

Sierra turned around, her blue eyes blazing like fire. "Oh yeah? You're an orcadork. And mine rhymes, so ha!"

"_Band geek,"_ Sasha coughed. Soon my row was filled with coughs of "_loser_" and "_band geek_" and other stuff I won't repeat.

The row in front of me sneezed out "orcadork" and "music Nazi" but thankfully no colorful insults.

"Let's watch the movie, okay?" Prim shouted. "It looks like flu season in here!"

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

"So," Sasha questioned, "what's your name?"

"Claire Stacey Lyons," Julia blurted out, hey eyes wide.

"How did you know that?" I asked in awe.

"Dunno," Julia shrugged. "I'm psychic or something."

She leaned in closer, her blue eyes glittering.

"It's like I have ESPN or something," she said in an important tone. I stifled my giggles as she hurried to catch up to Kyla.

"She's so dumb," Katie told me. "Even though she plays the clarinet, she's no band geek. FYI, it says that on your nametag."

I laughed and received a few odd looks from the others. By the time I reached the dorms, Katie and I exchanged phone numbers and made plans to sit together at the assembly.

As T unlocked the dorm room, my phone buzzed. _One new message from Katie Alexander. _I opened it with my thumb.

_Night bffsie __:)_

_Night __:)_I typed back. I quickly set it on silent and set it on my desk.

"Hey," T said groggily, "I wouldn't talk to Katie or the others. They're bad news."

"Okay, but why?" I asked, but T was already asleep.

I lay on my single pillow (I'd finish unpacking tomorrow) and pondered what T said. Katie seemed nice. Why couldn't I be her friend?

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

**Hey guys! So Kyla is an unused OC from Joy's story No Match For Us. Go look at it, okay? If Kyla's yours, let me know.**

**So I'm doing a new game in my story called Gossip Points. At the end of every chapter, I'll ask a question. If you answer it correctly, you get two points. Whoever has the most at the end gets a special prize! Maybe it'll be a dedication or shoutout or long review in book 2… wink wink.**

**Question: **What movie is this quote from?

"It's like I have ESPN or something,"

**Point tally will be updated every chapter. You only get one guess, and no cheating!**

**xox Claratwo**


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